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Honorverse:Scratch treecat
Treecats, often simply called 'cats, are the native sentient species of the planet Sphinx in the Manticore A planetary system. They are the twelfth (and most recent) sentient species discovered by man, and by far the smallest. They are estimated to be about the intelligence level of Terran dolphins or Beowulf Grendels. They measure .81 on the sentience scale. Physiology Despite the name treecat, some consider that the species more closely resembles members of the Terran weasel group (Mustelidae). Since they have prehensile tails and are larger than Terran weasels, they are also roughly comparable to Terran binturongs, though quicker and more agile. Most consider treecat heads to be strikingly like those of Earth felines, even though there is no connection whatever with any of these. The name "treecat" was chosen by the first human to discover their existence (and to adopt/be adopted by a treecat), Stephanie Harrington, and it has been the common name for several hundred T-years. Treecats' body length is commonly around 60 centimeters, with larger specimens growing over 70 cm, not including tail (usually about the same length). The tail effectively doubles the overall body length. Typical adult males weigh about 9-10 kg (or 20-22 pounds); adult females are somewhat smaller. Males are usually cream and gray with faint stripes (more or less, rings) on the tail whose number more or less correlate with age (in Sphinx years, minus four or five). Females are typically dappled brown and white. With age, fur loses pigmentation and becomes more gray in both sexes. Treecats are hexapedal (common in Sphinx fauna), with six limbs having hand-like paws (three fingers and an opposable thumb on each hand-paw). The paws have ivory-colored claws averaging 1.5 centimeters that are mainly used for traction, hunting, and combat. The front two pairs of limbs can both be used as hands; the front pair of hands has four fingers, one opposable (largely equivalent to a human "thumb"). The paws are formidably armed with retractile centimeter-long claws on each (used for tree climbing, hunting, and attack and defense). The claws are notable in not being merely curved and pointed protein 'fingernails' but, rather, curved, pointed, and much broader at the base than Terran feline claws. They are extremely sharp along the inside edge, and can thus not only pierce, but slice/shred as well. They are mineral based, more like teeth than like horn or nail in Terran animal claws or nails. Treecats have long curved teeth, mostly concealed when the mouth is closed. The tails are similar in function to those of some Terran monkeys, serving as balance when rapidly moving around, as well as functioning as an additional grasping/hanging limb. The tail is often used to grip branches, leaving all six hand-paws free. It is actually very broad and flat, with no hair on the underside. When not being used to hold onto something, the tail is kept rolled up lengthwise such that the hair is pointed outward. The tails are usually carried rolled into a furry "tube" which appears much as a Terran cat's tail would. When sitting, the tubular tails are often wrapped around the feet and, when sleeping, wrapped around the body, both likewise much in the manner of Terran cats. Like many terrestrial furred animals, treecats have the ability to grow and shed fur. The shedding/growing mechanism is not triggered by seasonal indicators, but by changes in the ambient temperature. The fur is thick, soft, three layered, and thins out in hot weather -- required for anything which can survive the intense and prolonged Sphinx winters without freezing in the absence of industrial technology. Treecats shed when it is warm, and are in this sense "high maintenance" in some situations when living with humans. The equivalent of a war cry, or attack warning/threat/announcement, resembles a "ripping canvas" noise and can be quite loud. It is used only when about to fight in lethal earnest. Hissing, and a rumbling snarling growl, are used as warnings. They also make a noise similar to a purr when content, shriek when traumatically injured, and several sounds (including bleeks, chirps, chitters, and croons) which variously convey (among many other things) amusement, contentment, excitement, laughter, and derision -— if not sarcasm -- to other treecats and to humans as well. They also flick their ears, tilt their heads, "flirt" their tails, and yawn -— all of which are also communication signals and generally understandable by humans. The vocal apparatus is ill-suited for anything resembling speech-;like sound production. In thier native environment, they commonly reach a natural age of over 200 T-years, barring trauma, starvations, infection, or accident. ( ) Diet Treecats are primarily carnivorous, though they also require a steady diet of certain vegetables to stay healthy. All treecats have acquired an enthusiasm for Terran celery; they both enjoy the taste and the effects of a chemical in Sphinxian adapted celery. It had been genetically modified to flourish in Sphinx's ecosystem, and inadvertently produced high levels of a chemical normally in short supply amongst edible native Sphinxian plants (chiefly the purple thorn). The chemical is, in effect, a telepathy/empathy vitamin form treecats. They find celery irrestible for this reason as well. Unfortunately, treecats are unable to digest Terran cellulose, so eating too much celery causes intestinal upset. Since encountering humans, treecats have also acquired a taste for the Terran rabbit, which has adapted well to Sphinx despite changes in ecology and climate, both as aprey item and a dietary staple. ( ) Psychic abilities Treecats communicate telepathically amongst themselves and are able to "feel" other treecats' and humans' emotions. Memory singers, ad\re treecats with special and uncommon mental qualities who serve as cultural and historical "archives" for the treecat groups and, by extension, jointly for the species. Bonding Treecats are empaths who can form a very intense, though limited, bond to humans; it is essentially permanent for both and if the human died for any reason, the paired treecat nearly always starves to death or suicides. In rare cases, it is sometimes possible for the treecat to (re-)bond to another human, or to continue living unbonded. Humans are much more likely to survive the loss of a bonded treecat, though with considerable difficulty. On Sphinx, in their native forests, treecats ordinarily lived 200+ T-years (traditionally 48 Sphinxian years), barring accident, disease, or other difficulty. The mismatch between typical (pre-prolong) human lifetimes and typical treecat lifetimes had tragic results in most cases of adoption. The development of life prolong treatments for humans has reduced this problem considerably. A bond between a human and a treecat is emotionally perceptible in both directions, but does not permit exchange of thoughts, nor use of language, visual or auditory images (with extremely rare exceptions), nor any deliberate or unconscious control by the human partner. Humans were, in treecat terms, mind blind, though they had very powerful, if unconscious, 'mind glows'. Treecats are far more capable in the human–treecat bond and can deliberately intervene in the emotional and mental health of their partners and others. They do not, except in the rarest of circumstances, as both their ethos of bonding amongst themselves, and strong inhibitions against interference with the mental processes of others, preclude this, probably as an evolutionary adaptation to social living as telepath/empaths. Bonding to a human occurs rapidly and with little warning on either side; the result is initially startling, if generally welcome, to the human —- especially to the human's friends and family if not from Sphinx. The bond continues to develop for some time after the initial "imprinting"; it becomes so close that strong emotions (eg, rage, fear, anguish, etc.) in the human partner can often be detected in the treecat partner's body language and stance. Very strong emotions in the human can even incapacitate a bonded treecat. It is not possible even for treecats to predict which human can (or will) bond, nor with which treecat; it is still less so for humans who have thus far detected no differences between those who bond to treecats and those who did not despite opportunities to do so. After some hundreds of years of experiences, shared via the memory singers, treecats have come to understand that some have an urge to find and bond with humans; many have noticed the traits in themselves. The initial bonding rate was rather less than one human in 1 million, and has decreased with the increase of Sphinx' human population. Humans can be of nearly any age from child to adult when "adopted", though few human children actually have been adopted. Bonding treecats have been generally older, as few had left their home clan's range, and so potentially encountered humans, until they had become mature. This first changed when Nimitz and Samantha decided to raise their first kittens with humans, and then led a small group to Grayson. Treecats are both empaths and telepaths with other treecats, and mated pairs form a permanent bond, though it is more complete than with humans since it is both telepathic and empathic, and "properly" supported from both ends. Mature treecats are monogamous; adolescents are somewhat more flexible. The range of the telepathic/empathic contact in both cases (treecat–treecat and human–treecat) is limited to at most a few kilometres, and decreases to mere "awareness" of the other at the extremes of that range. Bonded treecats stay physically close to their humans as separation (particularly extended separation) beyond contact range is distressing, if temporarily endurable, for both. Separation between mated pairs is also possible but similarly distressing, and so is also rare. Since there has been no noticeable tendency for bonded humans to join treecat clans high in the picketwood trees, bonding between a human and a treecat has always involved separation of the treecat partner from his/her clan, and indeed from essentially all treecat society, given the rarity of human bonded treecats. This abandonment of an existing social life is a measure of the intensity of the attraction and of the bond for treecats. Few bonded treecats have mated and produced kittens, which is likely another such indication. Bonded treecats prefer to ride on their human's shoulder when possible; it has become traditional. Given the size and sharpness of their claws, and the limitations of a human shoulder as a treecat "saddle", this poses problems which are usually solvable by installing armor cloth layers at appropriate locations in the human's clothing. Ecological position They are, when in groups, the dominant predator on Sphinx. There are larger predators, such as the related hexapuma, but these resemble Terran tigers or leopards in solitary territorial habits, and crucially lacked treecat intelligence levels. Hexapumas generally learn to be careful around treecats, unless they find a treecat alone and catchable on or near ground level (hexapumas are too large to follow treecats more than a (tall) arm's reach up a tree). Hexapumas who are too bold are generally, and enthusiastically, killed by treecat groups. They are referred to as Death Fangs by treecats. When acting in groups (as in defense of their home territory) nothing on Sphinx is a match for treecats. Treecats are largely immune from predation themselves, as they can travel continental distances without descending to the ground using the picketwood trees unique to Sphinx which grow, in part, horizontally and connect with each other across vast expanses. They thus provide something akin to elevated roads for treecat sized tree dwellers. Society Civilization Treecats refer to themselves as The People. In their native forests, they are organized into territorial clans of up to several hundred, centered around memory singers, who serve as cultural and social memory repositories. Memories are retained and replayed in great detail by memory singers and went back several hundred T-years. Otherwise, treecats would not have cultural memory, being without physical records such as like writing or painting. Governance of each clan is by Elders chosen for technical ability (eg, hunting, scouting, technological skill, ...); memory singers automatically are Elders in their clan. Young treecats are very active, inquisitive, and exploratory. Raising, training, and teaching them is typically done with the assistance of other adults in the clan. In the case of kittens whose parent(s) have bonded with humans, the usual procedure has long been to foster them within the clan of one of the parents when old enough. In the case of kittens living off Sphinx (thus far a very small number), provisions are needed for such assistance, as humans are unfit to adequately substitute in many matters and are in any case unable to follow them where they are wont to wend. (HH7) By the 20th Century PD, treecat civilisation had not developed advanced technology, but was at or beyond the equivalent of the Terran Stone Age well before humans arrived. Treecats had control of fire, cooking, worked stone and wood tools, wove fabrics, made and deployed cordage (eg, knots, nets, lines, etc.), and hunted and fished cooperatively. They had not developed farming, being fundamentally territorial hunter-gatherer bands. Trade between clans was of long standing prior to contact with humans. After that, treecats acquired new tools such as metal knives directly from humans, as well as considerable practical knowledge, such as farming concepts and techniques. Some also acquired an unsuspected taste for a kind of musical grace note, becoming fans of wind chimes. At least some clans mounted such chimes near their home trees. Treecats are and have been socially and culturally cautious and have not shown the innovation, restlessness, or recklessness characteristic of humans, either individually or collectively. Those few treecats who have been innovative have been especially important, particularly since contact with humans. (HH1) Names Treecat names have been long unknown to humans, as have the names treecats use for humans who have bonded. Human names have been given to treecats by their humans when they bonded, and the act has acquired considerable significance to both treecats and their humans. The human names given by Honor Harrington to unbonded treecats in the colonizing party which left Sphinx for Grayson illustrate both her keen interest in naval history (including ancient 'wet navy' history), her attempt to take into account their individual personalities, and an attempt to keep several treecats in the same living and working space straight, humans being without any ability to directly perceive personality. ( ) Individuality To an adopted human, and generally to anyone more than marginally perceptive who spends time in contact with a treecat, it becomes rapidly apparent that treecats have definite personalities. Those who meet more than one usually realize they have distinct personalities as well. They are not pets in any sense of the word, even with respect to an adopted/bonded human. Problems have resulted when humans make the unfortunate inference that they are pets, or are for practical purposes identical, and there have been a few, very rare, instances of adoptions which have failed due to the human partner coming to treat the treecat as a pet/possession. Until a bonded treecat learns enough about human society to "fit in", there can be difficulties as well for this reason. As they are rapid learners, and since they have direct connection to the emotions of all humans within range, and a particularly close bond with their adopted human, nearly all treecats adapt to the necessary aspects of human society (e.g., machinery dangers, doors and door locks, toilet conventions, etc) rather quickly. Treecats usually retain a bemused, if not incredulously baffled, attitude toward many human activities and practices, and put up with them largely for the sake of their adopted human, or for treecat-human relations generally. Those not adopted take guidance from those who are adopted or who have more experience. Table manners are an example. Basic treecat table manners are suited to forest life in trees. They can become more than acceptable, by human standards, for human environments, even quite formal ones; more because they realize it matters to humans, especially their own human, than because they saw much point in the whole business. A particular problem is that treecat teeth were not suited to coping at all well with fibrous foods such as celery, nor are their digestive arrangements well suited to such foods. Their devotion to celery is such, however, that their humans, and others, are rarely able to resist supplying them, despite their difficulties. In general, their manners in human society are excellent, though absurd humans, and human absurdity, can sometimes provoke "violations" which are perhaps best understood as mild revenge or practical joke, though this might not be apparent to the "victim", who was likely to have been somewhat thick to have evoked such a response to begin with. Almost never have any treecat committed an actual faux pas, much less a crime, in human terms. Being able to sense emotions provides considerable immunity to such errors, though not from fixed and inaccurate expectations held by some humans. History and relation with humans Treecats evolved on Sphinx as an arboreal species long before the colonization of the surrounding sector of space by humans. They made a planet-wide decision to stay hidden when human settlers arrived on their planet. Memory singers have preserved scouts' observations of the first human pathfinders to land on Sphinx, including the killing of an attacking hexapuma with "one loud noise" from a stick at a considerable distance.That incident occurred before treecats of the time had come to a conclusion about revealing themselves. This revelation of human capacities suggested reticence both then and again several hundred T-years later, when humans returned, this time to stay. Treecats managed to remain entirely unsuspected by humans for several T-decades during which human settlements were established across the planet, until the bonding possibilities between humans and treecats were accidentally discovered, as an indirect result of the newly noticed, and inexplicable, low level disappearance of celery from gardens and greenhouses across Sphinx. It was eventually discovered to be due to treecat raider depradations. Around 1400 PD, the first bonding between a treecat and a human took place on Sphinx. Stephanie Harrington 'caught' a treecat as it was raiding celery from a Harrington greenhouse and later defended it against a hexapuma. (HHA1:ABF) Treecats have been and are generally friendly towards humans, all of whom have a very strong "mind glow" for almost all treecats. They are universally enthusiastic about human children — their "mind taste" being particularly attractive, clear and direct. Adult treecats are excellent playmates for older children, being tough, fast, playful, and capable of sensing malicious intent. They are especially good attendants for infants. Somewhere between 1669 and 1681 PD, the Royal Manticoran Navy, on the initiative of Queen Adrienne, allowed bonded treecats aboard RMN vessels, when their bondmates were assigned to the vessel. ( ) Even thereafter, their intelligence level and social arrangements remained deliberately and intentionally obscured, as the result of another explicit planet-wide treecat choice which remained effective for several hundred T-years despite many bondings throughout that period, and despite many humans' attempts to study the treecats. Their cooperation with intelligence measurements and attempts to teach sign language on at least two occasions, was deliberately obstructive. Adopted humans were of equally little help, since they were universally reluctant to convey to others what they had learned, or suspected, about their companions. Treecats ahve eventually, even so, officially rated 0.83 on the sentience scale, and were thought to be slightly more intelligent and mentally capable than Beowulf's grendels or perhaps Earth's dolphins ( ). They were the twelfth —- and physically smallest—intelligent species known to humans. This combination of history and deliberate decision kept treecats themselves, and thereafter their abilities obscure for a very long time. On the treecat side, the second aspect of this strategy was proposed by Sings Truly of the Bright Water Clan, sister to Lionheart, the first treecat to bond to a human. It was adopted by clans throughout Sphinx and remained in effect for several hundred T-years. A new policy supplanted it only with Samantha and Nimitz' decision to raise their 'kittens on Grayson with Honor Harrington's assistance. With the coming of war between the People's Republic of Haven and the Star Kingdom of Manticore, treecats became aware that Sphinx might experience a disaster to the detriment of their entire species. Innate conservatism made the implications of this fact less than fully apparent, and it was only when Samantha and Nimitz' kittens were born that a treecat posed it seriously. The issue was raised in the Bright Water Clan, and after discussion, a decision was made to use Steadholder Harrington's good offices to establish a small and experimental colony off Sphinx. When a group of adult treecats arrived unheralded at the Harrington homestead on Sphinx and made clear they would be leaving Sphinx with Nimitz and Steadholder Harrington, both the Sphinx Forestry Commission and the Admiralty officially disapproved of the departure of any treecat, except Nimitz, to Grayson, and certainly not for a long term stay away from Sphinx. However, no treecat saw a problem -– including those bonded with SFS Rangers sent to protect the non-bonded treecats from some sort of obscure exploitation by Harrington. They made their lack of concern plain. The Admiralty was less easy to convince than the Forestry Commission, and Harrington had to provide transport for them to Grayson.Before this group decided to relocate, the only other adult treecat unbonded to a human ever to leave Sphinx was Richtmann's captured 'cat. ( ) Most famous treecats :See here for a complete list of all treecats. * Lionheart, bonded with Stephanie Harrington * Dianchect, bonded with Queen Adrienne I * Nimitz, bonded with Honor Harrington * Samantha, bonded with Hamish Alexander * Hipper, bonded with Rachel Mayhew References